One of the principal joys of my academic sabbatical is the opportunity to examine the letters C. S. Lewis wrote. They are now available in three massive volumes. He took special care in each letter, even to those who probably didn’t deserve such special care.
He wrote to all ages, even small children. Many wrote to him after reading his Chronicles of Narnia series. A most interesting letter of that type, written in 1960, provides some wonderful insight into his thinking about writing itself, as well as how he gets ideas for books. Here’s an excerpt:
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Why did I become a writer? Chiefly, I think, because my clumsiness or fingers prevented me from making things in any other way.
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What “inspires” my books? Really I don’t know. Does anyone know where exactly and idea comes from? With me all fiction begins with pictures in my head. But where the pictures come from I couldn’t say.
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Which of my books do I think most “representational”? Do you mean (a.) Most representative, most typical, most characteristic? or (b.) Most full of “representations” i.e. images? But whichever you mean, surely this is a question not for me but for my readers to decide. Or do you mean simply which do I like best? Now, the answer wd. be Till We Have Faces and Perelandra.
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I have, as usual, dozens of “plans” for books, but I don’t know which, if any, of these will come off. Very often a book of mine gets written when I’m tidying a drawer and come across notes for a plan rejected by me years ago and now suddenly realize I can do it after all. This, you see, makes predictions rather difficult!
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I enjoy writing fiction more than writing anything else. Wouldn’t anyone?
Come to think of it, I would love to write fiction sometime. Who knows? Predictions can be rather difficult.